No Meaning
by Red and Dust
Summary: When you die, the place you go is nothingness.


DISCLAIMER: Death Note and its characters are property of their respective owners.

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**NO MEANING**

He hadn't expected the afterlife to appear so bleak.

Yet oddly enough, this thought passed through Matt's mind without carrying with it any annoyance or worry. He felt detached from everything, paying little heed to the white emptiness around him or even the dark red blood stains from the bullet wounds still marking the front of his vest. Leaning back on... whatever was supporting him... the young man tilted his head upwards, wondering if he would see a large set of golden gates waiting to open for him. But no. It was just more of nothing. Not that he should have expected any more than that. He hadn't done anything worthy of going to heaven, assuming you had to earn passage.

He hadn't done much of anything. Was that what this was? Was this where you went when your life had no meaning? An empty nothingness. It was fitting somehow.

"That's an odd place to be resting."

Startled, Matt found himself tilting his head even further back until he was rewarded with the upside-down view of someone else. He turned himself around to face the visitor properly, unsure what to make of him. If this was an angel, it wasn't what Matt had been expecting.

It was a man and, like you'd imagine an angel would, he did indeed have wings. But the feathers were black and ragged. As he watched, one of them even fell loose, drifting away into the nothingness below his feet and causing him to wonder once again what was even holding them up to begin with. Ragged was really a good way to describe the man himself, dressed in nothing but a white shirt and jeans with bare feet and dark circles beneath large dead eyes. Matt realized he was staring finally and greeted the man with the first words that came to mind.

"Nice wings."

"Eh?" The odd angel blinked and turned around in a slow circle. "Where?" His gaze then returned to Matt, confused.

"Your... nevermind. Don't worry about it."

"All right."

The man didn't seem interested in pursuing that line of thought any further. Nor did he ask again why Matt was there, not that the latter would have known how to answer. It wasn't as if he was there by choice, after all. He also didn't leave, but stood slightly hunched, staring off the way Matt had been before he'd been interrupted.

Eventually the silence got to the newly deceased, and he cleared his throat. "Did you need something?"

"You haven't introduced yourself." The man hadn't turned back to him, still looking away into the emptiness.

Matt blinked again, just generally thrown off by the way this strange angel-but-not was acting. He supposed staying in a place like this for any length of time was bound to cause at least mild insanity. "I'm Matt."

The man finally turned to look at him, large eyes slightly narrowed. "There's no reason to lie when you're dead."

Taken back, Matt actually retreated a step before realizing how little good it would actually do him. Glancing down at his bloodstained vest and back again, he realized the man was right. He didn't have anything to lose anymore, did he? It was a relieving thing to come to terms with, despite what one might have thought.

"Mail," he corrected.

"Mail?" The not-angel repeated the name. Then he repeated it again, and several more times quietly to himself. Then there was more silence, and the man was frowning, concentrating, before at last his mouth formed a small 'o' and he said "That's right."

And again, neither of them spoke for several long minutes. Or hours. Or days. Or years. It was one of those puzzling sorts of places where time seemed nonexistent. One could never truly understand that type of place until they'd been there, Matt came to realize.

This time it was the odd man that broke the silence. "Ding," he said quietly in a way that was almost sing-song. "You've got Mail."

Matt glared. "Now you're making fun of me."

"Absolutely not," the winged man replied in a dull tone that didn't fit the argument.

"Well," Matt crossed his arms, no longer quite sure what to say. "You haven't given me your name."

The man was staring off into space again. "That's because I don't remember it."

Now that was just typical, wasn't it? And it was even a worthy excuse, because Matt imagined that this place wouldn't be all that conducive to keeping ones memories intact either. Maddening.

"I suppose you're not going to tell me what you're here for, either?" Though surely there had to be a reason. They were, after all, the only two beings - the only two _anythings_ within sight. Then there was the wings, and the whole _being dead _bit. He couldn't have just shown up to say hello.

But of course, to add to Matt's growing frustration, the man just gave a small shrug of his shoulders. "Sorry," he replied, not sounding at all apologetic. "I don't know the answer to that either."

The brunette did a literal facepalm, both hands connecting with his forehead. Perhaps this was Hell, and he was going to be doomed to suffer this insanity for the rest of eternity.

Then the dark-haired man continued. "It could be for one of a few reasons."

Matt blinked, looking skeptical. "Like what?"

"Well, the most likely instance is that I'm someone you know, and there were things you wanted to rectify with me before death." One bare foot was rubbed idly over the other as the not-angel thought.

"...And the other reasons?"

"Aren't likely enough to mention."

Frowning, Matt could only glare at the other man. He couldn't see how that could be the answer. There were very few people he would have wanted to rectify anything with before death - Mello being at the top of that list if only so that he could berate him for poor planning. Everyone else would still be alive - Near, perhaps. Or Roger. So who was left for him to--

"Oi!"

Both men looked over as a third figure entered their otherwise empty world. Mello strode towards them with his hands in the pockets of his usual leather pants. Like them, he walked on nothing but didn't seem to pay this any mind.

He stopped in front of them, looking the not-angel over with a skeptical expression. "L," he greeted. "Nice wings."

Matt's face was utterly blank as he watched L do another slow turn, still apparently unable to see the added appendages himself. Meanwhile, Mello was turning to him, something in his eyes completely unlike the blond that Matt was familiar with. As he opened his mouth to say something, Matt cut him off.

"Don't even. I don't want to hear it."

"But... weren't you waiting on...?"

"I wasn't waiting on you, dumbass." Matt didn't know why he was still there, but he was sure about that much. Then he turned back to L, expression oddly calm. "But I think I'm ready to go now."

"Are you? That's good."

With that, L walked off. The other two followed, and soon all three had vanished into the nothingness.


End file.
